Big fat lazy swine etc.

Again I've been very slack and slovenly when it comes to my writing here but I've also been extremely lazy this year when it comes to my cycling. Having hoped to get somewhere around eight or nine thousand miles on my bike this year and at least five, I've totalled up just under two thousand so far and don't have a single century to my name.

I know it's not a matter of mileage and is rather a matter of fun but I've found it difficult to motivate myself into cycling the way I feel I should be. Maybe that's part of the problem for me, thinking I 'should' be doing anything. Surely I 'should' be cycling as much as I damn well please and not worrying not much.

Something my lack of cycling (and exercise in general) has helped create is an increase in my weight. I've not been particularly skinny or fat for the past few years but I managed to get to a healthy 164 lbs/11 stones 10 lbs/74.4 Kgs last summer and was able to eat pretty much whatever I felt like. I've increased in mass and now exert 177 lbs/12 stones 9 lbs/80.3 Kgs on our bathroom scales. Blasted gravity! Putting on about 13 lbs/5.9 Kgs in weight isn't so good and is something I should really be trying to remedy. It's not like I'm enormous or anything. I'm 5'10"/1.78m and the weight I am isn't absolutely awful but it'll get that way if it continues as it has over the last year. My plan is to keep realistic weight loss goals of a couple of pounds/a kilo every month or two. So long as the weight is gradually going down and not increasing, that would be super. I'm probably a bit less puny than I was when I was 164 lbs/11 stone 10 lbs/74.4 Kgs (I'm starting to wish I hadn't bothered converting my weight between imperial and metric) so something around the 168 lbs/12 stones/76.2 Kgs area would be good. If I can get myself into an exercise routine, keep an eye on my diet (The flapjacks from Holland & Barrett don't help my cause) and let myself have more fun doing something good for me, I reckon I'll be close to my goal around early summer 2007. Wish me luck! Now what can I do for crow's feet and stray eyebrow hairs...

I was having a look at the Routes section of the PunctureRepairKit website and (And this could be said for the website in general) it hasn't been an amazing success. As it stands, there are still only two routes in there and they're both just wee routes I wrote myself. I had hoped it would flourish into a database of sorts filled with routes from all over the globe. So much for that idea. I guess I kind of lost interest in PunctureRepairKit. I wanted to set it up and get some input from other people to keep the information fresh and interesting but that's not happened. That sounds like I'm being bitter but that's not the case at all. It's my own doing for not having enough knowledge to do an impressive website or trying to advertise it properly (I wouldn't know how) and I haven't bothered my lazy bottom updating it in almost a year. Ah well, never mind.

For the first time in ages, I was out for a wee scoot there on Sunday with Kirby Girl and my Dad and, rather annoyingly, I skidded over and fell on my arse. It wasn't really my fault and didn't do much other than scrape the side of my right pedal, rip my bar tape (Which was almost brand new) and scuff the top-back of my right thigh. Thankfully it didn't damage my frame or wheels and my bib tights (Which were getting their first outing) survived without any damage other than getting muddy but it was annoying. I had slowed down to take a right turn into a t-junction and was giving it a wide sweep so I could be safe and, lo and behold, the back wheel of my bike skidded out and I ended up sliding across the road. Upon inspection, the area of the road I had skidded on had a thin layer of oil on the top of it. It's annoying some twat spilled their oil over the road and left it there, even if it was only by neglecting their car to the extent of it leaking oil, but there's no point in my moaning about it. I'm just glad my bike and I were okay and that it was me who skidded on it, rather than either of my cycling partners for the day.

Continuing on this overlong entry (I've a lot of missed time to make up), Kirby Girl and I are thinking of buying a tandem in the near future. We know a guy selling one but someone else has first right of refusal on it. If 'someone else' decides he doesn't want it, we'll be straight in to have a look and most likely get it. It's very exciting for me. I've never even ridden a tandem before. That conjurs up thoughts like 'What the hell do you think you're doing buying one if you've never ridden one before?' but I'll not let logic stop me and am determined to purchase a tandem of some description. I'm not going to spend huge amounts of money on the likes of a Santana titanium bike (I had no idea Carlos was a cyclist) at over £8000 GBP. At most I reckon something like a Dawes Galaxy Twin could be an option but, even then, I would rather pay considerably less if possible. It's that conundrum of whether you spend a fairly large amount of money on a bike you may not like or buy something cheap to start with. The problems with the latter option are the cheap version might not be as enjoyable and you might find you don't enjoy it primarily because you're using low quality equipment or you find you love it and want a better tandem, having already spent a few hundred pounds on the cheap one. Obviously the problem with a more expensive tandem would be buying it and finding we don't like using a tandem. I reckon we're pretty likely to enjoy using a tandem and it's a worthwhile risk. Even if Kirby Girl wasn't so into it, I think my Dad would be happy to 'stoke' (I'm reserving the 'Captain' role as I'm selfish and inconsiderate) when he's up and that would mean it should get a reasonable amount of usage. Hopefully we'll be able to kind of do both (Getting a decent tandem for cheap) if 'someone else' decides against buying the second-hand tandem I mentioned earlier. I've not seen the tandem but the guy selling it is part owner of a bike shop and, from my dealings with him in the past, I wouldn't imagine him owning anything substandard. Whilst wittering about tandems (tandi?), I should give the (Out of my price range) Hase Pino a mention. It's an odd looking beast of a tandem but seems like a really good idea. I've never ridden a recumbent either and it's quite an attractive proposition, although the £2000+ GBP price tag (For the most basic model) puts me off rather a lot. Something which worries me a bit about a tandem is my own lack of fitness and that whole 'tandems are crap uphill' thing. It can be tough enough for me to get uphill on my own bike at times (Which has a front:30/29:rear lowest gear, although I very rarely drop below 30/23 or 30/26 as my lowest gear makes a funny 'poinging' noise when I'm in it) so I'm worried I'll be totally useless on a tandem. I was having a read at Sheldon Brown's information on tandems and it's good stuff. I'm sure some of it will come in useful when/if we get a tandem. I'm all excited at the thought of getting one now I've been wittering on about it so very much.

The only other bicycle related thing I've to write about is my getting a 'winter bike'. I don't want the componentry on my beloved bicycle to get all screwed up over the winter, so getting something else to ride then could be a good idea. I had been using my Peugeot but Kirby Girl needs a bike for winter too, the frame on the Peugeot is a bit small for me and would suit her better and I'm greedy and would like another bike. It'll need to be something I can put mudguards on (And not RaceBlade type mudguards as they're not so good) and I would much prefer being able to stick my rack pack on it (As opposed to not being able to) too. I need somewhere to keep my camera, muffins and sandwiches so 'no pannier rack' is not an option. I shall have to investigate further. I was thinking of something along the lines of a Fuji Ace (If they're still made) but may get something different as Kirby Girl already has a Fuji Ace and there's something a bit keen about two people having exactly the same bike, just like we already do with our audax type bikes. Oh dear!

Well, that's me pretty much caught up. Sorry to keep you so long and thanks very much for taking the time to read this. All the best everyone/anyone.